Providing an online window for furniture and other home decor, the company has been selling customers a range of products to choose from without burning a hole in their pockets.Anu Thomas | ET Online | August 26, 2016, 12:45 IST

"We wanted to explore the consumer space in India and home decor seemed exciting and challenging and provided enough room for innovation," said Rajiv Srivatsa.Urban Ladder has made a steep climb since it was started off four years ago by IIM-B alumni Rajiv Srivatsa and Ashish Goel. Resolute in their zeal to start something that would impact the lives of millions, the duo set up shop as entrepreneurs with a mission to help people beautify homes. Providing an online window for furniture and other home decor, the company has been selling customers a range of products to choose from without burning a hole in their pockets.

"We wanted to do something where the problem fundamentally had not been solved yet," says co-founder of Urban Ladder, Rajiv Srivatsa. "We also wanted to explore the consumer space in India and home decor seemed exciting and challenging and provided enough room for innovation. That is why we decided to go ahead and pursue this," he says. Rajiv Srivatsa. "We also wanted to explore the consumer space in India and home decor seemed exciting and challenging and provided enough room for innovation. That is why we decided to go ahead and pursue this," he says.

Bring to the tableIn terms of its product offering, the startup has maintained a healthy practice of controlled frugality while paying close attention to design. "Doing fewer things has helped us as a company in the past too and agrees with us even today," says Srivatsa. The company also went deep into research on why consumers need a particular product, costs, whether it can withstand the structural impact of repeated usage, among others.

Srivatsa also maintains that it may not be easy to replicate these products outside the brand. "People will either find the whole process too expensive or they may not do justice to the quality of the product itself," he says.

Service is yet another tenet on which the entire USP of the company is built on. "We make sure everything is integrated to provide a great brand experience for users," says Srivatsa. "This involves a competent supply chain where you have to deliver, install etc, enabling us to provide this kind of service at scale," he adds.

The funds have helped the company chug on at a time when the space is seeing the emergence of quite a few players. But the mantra the company has stuck to over the years has been simple yet effective. "We made a conscious call to not go overboard with our product range, at the same time ensuring that it offers customers a wide range to choose from," says Srivatsa. "Our monetary model is also pretty basic - we charge for the products we sell - with an average ticket size of Rs 20,000," he adds.

Off the shelfThe reactions have been promising, despite apprehensions from people early on when the concept of selling furniture online was almost unheard of. "I was toying with the idea in my mind even when I graduated from college, but I did not want to rush into it. I finally took the plunge eight years later," says Srivatsa.

"Going back, I would just say that when you decide to start something new, it is just as important to analyze market size and assess its need," he says. "Lastly, the importance of valuing your team cannot be emphasized enough," he signs off.